YAY

Race to acceptance

As IvyGate, Gawker, and New York Mag have picked up, some accepted members of the Columbia Class of 2017 decided to post their application essays publicly online (inciting Bwog to mutter “they’re making it too easy.”).  Unfortunately, the files have since been deleted, but you can still catch some highlights at the linked articles.  Frankly, perusing these essays has made Bwog even more excited to formally meet the incoming class–such creative kids with a broad spectrum of interests and life stories.  We can’t wait to see what they bring to campus (and the 2017 Facebook group).  We’ve reached out to Admissions for comment and will let you know if they get back to us.

Update, 5:40 pm: The Class of 2017 Facebook group has already begun reacting and they are not happy, you guys.

Update, 8:16 pm: Admissions released the following statement on the 2017 Facebook group:

We understand that personal statements that were shared by members of this private group a few weeks ago were regrettably made public and printed in the media this afternoon. Given the critical priority we place on maintaining the privacy of past, current and prospective students, we want to assure you that Columbia was not involved in the release of these essays to the public, and that the Google Drive where these statements were originally posted has now been taken down voluntarily by its creator. We are thrilled that you are getting to know one another and are excited to join the Columbia community, but we encourage you to always take appropriate privacy measures when sharing any personal information online. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at ugrad-welcome@columbia.edu if you have any questions or concerns.

Banks and America tortoise and hare via Shutterstock